A dead body was discovered at Venice Breakwater on Tuesday morning.

Authorities got the call just before 6:00AM.

Reports state that the naked body was female, believed to be approximately 30 to 35 years old.

A pair of shoes, some clothing, and other items were found in a pile near the body.

Sheriff's deputies are investigating the death and believe it could be a suicide.

A Paddle Out for Mike Vaughan, who passed away last month, will be held on Saturday, August 8th.

Come join friends and family to celebrate Mike Vaughan's life with a traditional paddle out memorial at Tower 26 in Santa Monica. Socially distanced, responsible and outside.

Please share with friends, loved ones and anyone else who was touched by Mike's love of ocean sports, living a big life and his generosity.

More info at the Mike Vaughan Paddle Out Facebook Event Page

According to Surfline, "Just minor pulses of southerly swell for California through the upcoming weekend."



Saturday, July 18th: 1-2’+ waves for summer/combo breaks, occ. 3′ set at standouts. Light AM wind.
Small SSW swell holds and NW windswell lingers, small new S swell creeping in late. Average breaks are knee-thigh high through the better tides. Surf remains best suited for big boards or small humans but should have a little more push than Friday. Light/variable wind starts out the day with mostly clean conditions. Wind trends onshore from the W through the morning, becoming moderate+ (8-12kts+) out of the W for most areas in the afternoon.

Sunday, July 19th: 1-2’+ waves for summer/combo breaks, occ. 3′ set at standouts. Light AM wind. Small SSW swell lingers, a new S swell creeps up, and NW windswell rebounds through the PM. Average breaks are knee-thigh+ high through the better tides. Light/variable wind starts out the day with mostly clean conditions. Wind trends onshore from the W through the morning, becoming moderate+ to breezy (10-14kts+) out of the W for most areas in the afternoon.

Surfline Surf Forecasts

Surfline Surf Forecasts

Classic longboard surfing at its finest filmed by Andrea Coleman.

There have always been amazingly talented women skateboarders but there’s no denying that Vans Pro and Tony Hawk protégé, Santa Monica's Lizzie Armanto, is one of the most groundbreaking ladies in skateboard history. Pouring sweat, skill, and creativity into full parts for both Thrasher Magazine and Birdhouse in 2017, she also became the first female to be featured on the cover of Transworld Skateboarding in addition to Thrasher cover honors. Armanto is also one of the leaders of a new onslaught of fierce women skaters making names for themselves in the Vans Park Series circuit.



If that’s not enough, she’s also the first female skater to successfully complete Tony Hawk’s 360 Loop, in addition to being featured as a primary character in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 video game. With over 30 awards on her mantle, along with the first-ever Gold in X-Games Womens Park competition in 2013, Lizzie’s path is paved in milestones and setting the tone for generations of women in skateboarding.

A true embodiment of Vans’ DNA, Lizzie Armanto is an icon of originality and positivity. With her down-to-earth, fashion-forward, barrier-breaking approach, it’s no wonder Lizzie has become a role model to skateboarders around the world.



Never one to remain complacent in her style both on and off the board, Lizzie’s fun approach is reflected in her latest collection with Vans, featuring the Old Skool Pro Lizzie Armanto and a signature apparel pack infused with Lizzie’s signature beating-heart graphic and positive messaging. The design takes cues from natural tones and wild terrain, according to Lizzie:



“My latest collection was inspired from a photo I took of a spring time California landscape, covered in plants and wildflowers.”

The Old Skool Pro Lizzie packs bold style and serious performance into a shoe for those who aspire to Lizzie’s arresting abilities on a skateboard. The shoe’s full-suede, antique-white upper with debossed Checkerboard combines with a translucent Sidestripe and a contrasting black rubber sole, creating a graceful aesthetic with a bit of attitude. Lizzie’s initials are debossed on the heelcup as well as printed alongside her signature beating-heart graphic on an olive-gold sockliner.

The shoe features PopCush, Vans’ brand-new, Pro-Skate-exclusive technology. A meticulously tuned foam recipe offers impact protection, superior cushioning, and better energy return for every type of skating. As the brand’s most progressive sockliner to date, PopCush is Vans’ standard best-in-class upgrade for skating longer and harder.



Original gum rubber compound offers superior grip and support, while Pro Vulc Lite construction provides ultimate boardfeel, flex, and grip. DURACAP reinforced underlays in high-wear areas add unrivaled durability and prolong the life of the shoe.



Accompanying the Lizzie’s Old Skool Pro is a line of signature apparel, including the Heart Lizzie baby tee in blue surf, legging in black, coaches jacket in antique white, backpack in antique white, sock in white, and hat in black. Lizzie’s signature beating-heart graphic can be found across the collection, from prominent placement on the baby tee to a more subtle nod on the inside front lining of the coaches jacket. A reminder to “skate with heart” is emblazoned on the legging’s interior waist band and backpack’s strap.



The Vans Old Skool Pro Lizzie Armanto Pack is now available at Vans retailers and vans.com/skate.

Athletes, coaches, and long time friends Ryan Schafer and Tully Chapman discuss a broad range of health and fitness related topics on their Bourbon And Balance Podcast

This week they interview Solo Scott from Venice Beach, California. Solo tells us his story about growing up in California, skateboarding and surfing, and eventually touring the world as a professional surfer. Listen to the podcast in the player below:

Looks like the rumors and fears of another lockdown may be true, the City OF Malibu just announced these closures:

"Due to current COVID-19 conditions, and to protect the health and safety of visitors and City staff, Malibu Bluffs Park and the Temporary Skate Park will temporarily close effective immediately."

"We hope to reopen the Skate Park as soon as possible, and apologize for the inconvenience this may cause to our local skaters."

"Due to the closure, we have suspended reservations through our online booking system, and all current reservations in the system have been canceled."

City Manager Reva Feldman told KBUU News that Sheriff's deputies have been called to Bluffs Park "multiple times every day to try and enforce the rules. Skaters are not following the limit of people allowed in the skate park (12 max) and are not leaving when asked by city staff."

"Parents are refusing to wear masks and continue to congregate."



For more of our coverage of the Coronavirus lockdown, closures, and how our local surf community and businesses are doing, CLICK HERE

Mike, aka German in Venice, heads up to Dogtown to check out the Friday night car meet.

According to the National Hurricane Center, Tropical Storm Cristina will become a hurricane on Friday.

Unfortunately, Cristina’s small size is the main thing preventing it from producing a swell of significance for SoCal. We should see some small waves, waist-high and below, at the south-southeast exposed spots by the end of the weekend.

Over in Atwater Village, vandals hit the Chevy Chase Skatepark over the July 4 weekend, smearing some of the ramps with black, slightly sticky substance and putting huge cracks in the lips of the skatepark.


“We are saddened about the vandalism that occurred over the Fourth of July weekend,” said Rose Watson from the Department of Recreation and Parks. “We are investigating while we assess the conditions for repair.”

Info and photos from Eastsider Reader

SurfAid has just uploaded a video from their 2018 SurfAid Cup event in Malibu. Perfect timing, due to the Coronavirus closures, we haven't had any recent events to feature.

On September 8, the SurfAid Cup Malibu 2018 saw super-fun waves roll down first point, and competitors took full advantage. Over $74,000 was raised for SurfAid's Mother and Child Health Programs, which make a huge difference to the lives of people in communities connected to us through surfing. SurfAid

More Patagonia looters have been caught. First, one of surfboard looters got arrested, now the looters that stole the safe out of the store have been arrested.

According to the press release, on July 3rd, 2020 Santa Monica Police Department Detectives from the Special Investigations Unit and officers from the Crime Impact Team served multiple search and arrests warrants at different locations in Los Angeles County related to the damage and looting of Patagonia located at 1344 4th Street on May 31st. Several suspects were able to remove a safe from the business. Detectives identified six suspects involved in the looting and theft of the safe.

Four suspects were arrested and booked for burglary, conspiracy and looting during a riot:
Ulises Alcantara JUAREZ DOB: 07-23-94 Male, Hispanic
Alfredo Fernando BELLO DOB: 06-07-96 Male, Hispanic
Yesenia Enriquez TEJADA DOB: 02-04-95 Female, Hispanic
Debbie LUJAN DOB: 10-15-96 Female, Hispanic

Evidence related to the looting, including the safe, were recovered and booked into evidence.

These arrests still do not excuse the fact that the Santa Monica Police allowed this to happen in the first place, and the fact that the Santa Monica Police Chief and several city council members blatantly lied about what happened.

For more of our coverage of the protests and looting in our beach communities, CLICK HERE

The National Hurricane Center is issuing advisories on Tropical Storm Cristina, located several hundred miles south of Manzanillo, Mexico.

Tropical Cristina is a small tropical cyclone, although it is expected to expand in size later this week as it likely strengthens and should become our first hurricane of the season.

Based on Cristina’s current track from the National Hurricane Center, it should enter the SoCal swell window later this work week with some fun surf potential around the end of the weekend and possibly beyond. Cabo and Southernmost Baja could see significantly larger surf a couple of days before SoCal.

As we all know, the Santa Monica Police ignored all the warnings about the upcoming looting attack on the city, and their incompetence led to the looting of over 100 stores in the Downtown Santa Monica.

Now, two of the looters who hit REI and VANS have been arrested.

According to their press release, Detectives with the Santa Monica Police Department scoured hours of security video and social media posts. A suspect vehicle was identified by searching social media videos of the civil unrest. It showed a vehicle license plate with two suspects loading various items from REI. After reviewing REI security video, the two subjects were identified inside the store removing thousands of dollars of merchandise. During the investigation one of individuals was also identified as the suspect of an assault on a police officer.

The Manhattan Beach Police Department stopped the wanted vehicle and notified Santa Monica Police Department Detectives. The occupants of the vehicle were determined to be the two outstanding suspects and were subsequently arrested.

A search of the suspect vehicle pursuant to a search warrant led to the recovery of several stolen items from both the REI and the VANS store.

Suspect #1 is Sebastian Martinez (2/22/1996) of El Segundo, CA. Suspect #2 is Christopher Gutierrez (11/5/2000) of Los Angeles. Both now in SMPD custody.

These arrests still do not excuse the fact that the Santa Monica Police allowed this to happen in the first place, and the fact that the Santa Monica Police Chief and several city council members blatantly lied about what happened.

For more of our coverage of the protests and looting in our beach communities, CLICK HERE

According to Surfline, "SSW swell is down slightly Tue then levels off midweek."



Tuesday, July 6th: 2-3’+ summer breaks. NW windswell in the mix. SE/S eddy winds.
SSW swell (205-190) continues to fall off, mixing with ongoing NW windswell. Look for waist-stomach high surf at most breaks with decent exposure, while good breaks in North LA are still chest high. Light+ S/SW flow develops through the morning for most exposures, holding there through the afternoon.

Wednesday, July 7th: 2-3’+ summer breaks. Smaller NW swell in the mix. S eddy winds. Modest, reinforcing SSW swell (205-190) levels size off, mixing with lingering NW windswell. Look for waist-stomach high surf at most breaks with decent exposure, while good breaks in North LA. Light+ S/SW flow develops through the morning for most exposures, holding there through the afternoon. Long-Term Forecast Analysis (Thursday, July 9th and beyond)

Surfline Surf Forecasts

Surfline Surf Forecasts

Photographer, Timothy White, takes you behind the lens on his shoot with N.W.A. following the release of their break album, Straight Outta Compton. Timothy recounts his experience riding in Dr. Dre's Mercedes, the moment the surfer walked into the frame that Timothy just barely captured as Dre was making a phone call. An incredible set of photos of an iconic group by a young photographer that would go on to make a name for himself in the world of celebrity photography.

Originally posted by Ross Furukawa on the Santa Monica Daily Press

Local entrepreneur, extreme sportsman and original Dogtown local Mike Vaughan passed away suddenly on June 18th. He was 48 years old.

A third generation Santa Monican, Mike attended Grant Elementary, John Adams Middle School and Santa Monica High School. Many locals knew the Vaughan family, they owned DSJ Printers on Pico Blvd for many years.



Mike started his printing career at DSJ, then launched his own printing company, Positive Existence Printing. Mike built Positive Existence to become an industry leader, printing movie posters, point of purchase displays and many of the billboards you see throughout Los Angeles.

Mike served on the boards of the Boys and Girls Clubs council and the Santa Monica YMCA.

In 2005, Mike started Pro Sup Shop with his then-partner Nikki Von Reisen, Ross Furukawa and his father, Mike Vaughan Sr. Through insight, hard work and a long term vision, Pro Sup Shop became the largest Santa Up Paddle board business in LA County, operating at Mother’s Beach in Marina Del Rey.

Mike touched the lives of many through Pro Sup Shop. He introduced thousands of people to his love of the ocean through this accessible water sport, and was always generous with his time, resources and skills with anyone who showed interest.

He was instrumental in facilitating and building Stand Up Paddleboarding as a team building, social activity, and found it a great way to network with everyone on the water.



Mike played a huge role in starting the Santa Monica Pier Paddle and Ocean Festival, one of the largest water sports events on the West Coast.

A true waterman, Mike competed on a national level in Stand Up Paddleboard racing, eventually cracking the top 5 in his class. He would jump off his board to try to catch sharks with his bare hands. He paddled from San Pedro to Catalina, ran a marathon, then paddled back. He competed in the San Diego Bay to Bay 20 mile race in 10 ft swells during a winter storm. He never quit.

Mike was always the first to go out and the last to come in. He was always the guy who caught the biggest wave, surfed closest to the rock, and got stuffed in the deepest tube.



Most of all, he had a passion for sharing his love of sports and this infected everyone around him.

Mike Vaughan is survived by his wife Jennifer, son Cole, father Mike Vaughn Sr, mother Linda, brother Matt and sisters Diana, Christine and many nieces and nephews.

Here are a couple surf photos from Monday, July 6th at Zero's. These were shot by RJP Surfing Photography. These are just some of the photos. If you were out there, you probably got some surfing shots in the complete photo gallery, check them out, the link is down below.



You can find a lot more photos from this session, all full size and in high-resolution, in this photo gallery:

Surfing Zero's, 07/6/2020 Photo Gallery

If you were out there, we probably got some cool surfing shots of you, go check them out!


Wanna see photos from previous days at this and other local surf spots?
Click Surf Spot Galleries and look for the spot and then the date.